IH Young Learners Conference
This year the annual IHWO Young Learners Conference took place in Barcelona, Spain at International House Mataró on the weekend of March 18th-19th. Paul and Sinvenna attended from IH Berlin PROLOG.
Mataró, a small sunny coastal city one hour north of Barcelona, warmly welcomed IH schools' representatives from all around the world. All in all, schools from 45 countries were represented at the conference along with guest speakers.
Lucy Horsfield, Chief Operating Officer for IHWO, kicked off proceedings by welcoming everybody to the conference. Shaun Wilden (IHWO TT Coordinator), Sophie Montagne (Membership Services & Internal Communications) and Jane Harding da Rosa (IH Newcastle and writer of the IH CTYLT course) were all introduced and the programme for the next two days was unveiled.
Over the two days there were a host of IH speakers presenting on a variety of topics all focused around the Young Learner. Dennis Akers, Director of IH Mataró, presented two fascinating seminars focused on neuroscience and the role of the brain in Young Learner development. YL course books were discussed and ideas exchanged in a seminar presented by Diana England from IH Torres Vedras in Portugal. Jane Harding da Rosa presented a highly interactive talk on the use of songs and chants in the classroom. Other practical presentations included 'Using the real world as your ESL classroom' and 'Creative writing for teens' by representatives from IH New York and IH Barcelona. Finally the new International House Course for Young Learner Teacher Trainees was introduced and discussed.
Overall it was an intriguing and productive weekend. Many new contacts were made and ideas exchanged.